Full Tilt Poker to Host $25K Heads-Up Poker Tournament

Full Tilt will make history with their recently announced $25,000 buy-in heads-up poker tournament, as when it starts it will be the largest buy-in event ever in heads-up online poker. This tournament is scheduled to take place a week after the conclusion of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series VIII, on Saturday May 24, and Sunday May 25.

Not all players will be required to foot the $25,000 buy-in, as Full Tilt Poker will be offering a few satellites into the game, including $500 + $35 qualifiers that will be held on the Thursday and Friday preceding the event, both qualifiers starting at 3:00 PM EST.

The tournament will be capped at 64 players, and no player will receive a bye in any round. For example, if more than 32 players register for the tournament but the field doesn’t reach the 64 player cap, then the players who registered after the first 32 slots were filled will receive a refund and only the first 32 to sign-up will play. A side effect of this rule is that players will be encouraged to sign-up early in order to guarantee they will be playing.

The event will be officially hosted by Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who won the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship. Other Full Tilt Poker pros who have confirmed that they will participate are Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, and Howard Lederer. Key hands will be recorded throughout the tournament, as will some of the more intriguing matchups. Phil Gordon and Ali Nejad will provide commentary on some of these recorded moments once the tournament has concluded.

The $25K Heads-Up tournament will start at 3:00 PM EST on Saturday, May 24. If you have $25,000 you can buyin directly before all seats are taken, or you can try to win your way into the event through one of the qualifiers for a fraction of the cost.

I’d love to see an online qualifier pull this one out as opposed to one of the pros. I could see the regular player getting some sort of deal out of this if they beat all those poker pros on the way to winning the championship. In any event, this is exciting and I can’t wait.